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1, March 2006
by
Othoman ALKAEED *, Clariza FLORES **, Kenji JINNO*** and Atsushi TSUTSUMI****
Abstract
Six reference evapotranspiration (ETo) methods are compared, based on their daily
performances under the given climatic condition in the western region of Fukuoka City.
The Penman-Monteith equation standardized by the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO56-PM) is used to compare with the Thornthwaite, Hargreaves, and Hamon methods.
The FAO56-PM method has also been used as an index for two equations: the solar
radiation (Rs) based and net radiation (Rn) based equations, which are the simplified
versions of FAO56-PM. Performance analysis for the calculated values using
meteorological data for 7 years (Jan 1996 Dec 2002) was made. The standard error of
estimates (SEE) was calculated on monthly basis. The estimated values by the
Thornthwaite, Hargreaves, Hamon, and the Rs-based and Rn-based radiation methods were
all correlated with FAO56-PM having correlation (r2) values calculated by Pearsons
correlation of 0.80, 0.69, 0.48, 0.71 and 0.45 and their standard error estimates were 0.25 ,
0.25, 0.25, 0.28 and 0.24 mm mon-1, respectively. Proximity in ETo estimates by the
Hargreaves and the Rs-based methods showed that the solar radiation as input variable was
important as the FAO56-PM method. Also, the Thornthwaite method, which uses only
temperature as input variable, has been found to have highly correlated with the
FAO56-PM method. Thus, when considering the availability and reliability of the input
data, the use of all these methods are suggested as practical methods for estimating ETo if
the standard FAO56-PM equation is not applicable due to the complexity of its input
parameters.
1. Introduction
estimating ETo, involving equations ranging from the most complex energy balance method requiring
detailed climatological data (Allen, 1989) to simpler method requiring less data (Hargreaves, 1982;
Samani, 1985). Among them, the FAO-56 based on the Penman-Monteith (PM) method
(Allen et al., 1998) is currently used and is considered to be a standard method 8). However, the major
drawback of FAO56-PM method is that this method requires air temperature, relative humidity, wind
speed, and solar radiation which could not be easily available in many meteorological stations particularly
in a given location where quality of data and difficulties in gathering all of the necessary weather
parameters can present serious limitations 9). Additionally, it also uses the complicated unit conversions
and lengthy calculations 10). On the other hand, the Thornthwaite method is considered to be a popular
method since it only requires monthly average air temperature. Mintz and Walker (1993) stated that the
Thornthwaite method was developed for temperature measured under potential conditions and it only
represents the potential evaporation when there is no soil moisture stress. Hence, this method tends to
overestimate the potential evaporation in arid regions if air surface temperature is applied. The Hargreaves
method is also quite simpler that requires only two climatic parameters: the temperature and incident
radiation. This method has been tested using some high quality lysimeter data and broad range in
climatological conditions (Hargreaves, 1994) whose results revealed as nearly accurate as PM in
estimating ETo. Therefore, the use of the Hargreaves method is recommended in cases where reliable data
are lacking. The Hamon method is also considered as one of the simplest estimates of ETo 13), and
applicable to estimate seasonal (monthly) or annual values. Haith and Shoemaker (1987) stated that the
Hamon method is applicable easily since it requires only average number of daylight hours per day and
saturated vapor pressure. Irmak et al. (2003) simplified the FAO56-PM method by expressing a
multi-linear regression function which requires less input parameters and computation. This uses only the
solar radiation (Rs), net radiation (Rn) and mean daily temperature (Tm) as input parameters to estimate the
ETo.
Although, many approaches have been developed and adapted for various applications based on
available input data, there is still a remarkable range of uncertainty related to which method is to be
adopted specifically in the calculation of reference evapotranspiration for short grass at a given area. Thus,
for the purposes of establishing a common method which can provide a more accurate ETo estimation,
these estimation methods were researched on the basis of their variability in input variables. The
performances of these methods were evaluated and compared with the FAO56-PM for estimating the ETo
particularly at the new Kyushu University Campus area whose meteorological properties are
characterized as having high humidity and heavy precipitation.
Besides, the crop coefficient for the forest canopy was discussed through the comparisons of the
presented values for the forest in the Fukuoka areas with the reference values calculated by the above six
methods.
2. Methodology
The total area of Itoshima is about 111.61 km2. The climate in the area is characterized as having high
humidity, high wind speed, and heavy precipitation. The meteorological data in the present study were
obtained from the Maebaru Automated Meteorological Data Acquisition System (AMeDAS) station in
Maebaru City, Fukuoka, Japan, which is close to the new Kyushu University Campus,
(latitude 33o 33 36 N, longitude 130o 11 30 N) within an agricultural area. The average annual
precipitation is 1646 mm yr-1(1996-2002), approximately more than 50% of which occurs in June-August.
Air temperature ranges from 19.2oC and 31.1oC in summer and 1.7oC and 15.4oC in winter months. Daily
mean temperature in summer is 23.3 oC and 9.6 oC in winter. On the other hand, daily mean minimum and
maximum relative humidity are 37% and 92% with annual average of 67%, respectively. The observed
maximum and average daily wind speed in this period were 4.5 m s-1 and 2.8 m s-1 3).
2.2 Equations
2.2.1 The (FAO56) Penman-Monteith equation
The (FAO56) Penman-Monteith equation for predicting ETo where applied on 24-h calculation time
steps has the form:
900
0.408 ( Rn G ) + u 2 (e s e a )
ETo = T + 273 (1)
+ (1 + 0.34u 2 )
Where ETo is reference evapotranspiration [mm day-1], Rn is net radiation at the crop surface
[MJ m-2 day-1], G is soil heat flux density [MJ m-2 day-1], T is mean daily air temperature at 2 m height
[C], u2 is wind speed at 2 m height [m s-1], es is saturation vapour pressure [kPa], ea is actual vapour
pressure [kPa], es-ea is saturation vapour pressure deficit [kPa], is slope vapour pressure curve
[kPa C-1], and is psychrometric constant [kPa C-1]. In application having 24-h calculation time steps, G
is presumed to be 0 and es is computed as
Comparison of Several Reference Evapotranspiration Methods 5
e 0 (Tmax ) + e 0 (Tmin )
es = (2)
2
Where e0( ) is the saturation vapor function and Tmax and Tmin are the daily maximum and minimum air
temperature. The FAO Penman-Monteith equation predicts the evapotranspiration from a hypothetical
grass reference surface that is 0.12 m in height having a surface resistance of 70 s m-1 and albedo of 0.23.
The equation provides a standard to which evapotranspiration in different periods of the year or in other
regions can be computed and to which the evapotranspiration from other crops can be related.
Standardized equations for computing all parameters in Eq. (1) are given in Allen et al. (1994ab, 1998) or
Smith et al. (1991), 15).
(
a = 492390 + 17920 I 771I 2 + 0.675 I 3 10 6 ) (5)
where, Ti is the mean monthly temperature [C], N is the mean monthly sunshine hour. The main
advantage of this method is that only the temperature information is needed besides the sunshine hours.
Generally, it is known that the Thornthwaite method gives the underestimate in the arid area while the
overestimate in the humid area, respectively.
where Tm is daily mean air temperature [C], Tmax is daily maximum air temperature [C], Tmin is daily
minimum air temperature [C], and Ra is extraterrestrial radiation [MJ m-2 day-1]. The mean air
temperature in the Hargreaves equation is calculated as an average of Tmax and Tmin and Ra is computed
from information on location of the site and time of the year. Therefore air temperature is the only
parameter that needs to be measured continuously in order to use Eq. (6) 17).
2.1 H t es
2
ETo = (7)
(Tmean + 273.2)
where Ht [day] is average number of daylight hours per day.
6 O. ALKAEED, C. FLORES, K. JINNO and A. TSUTSUMI
0 35
C)
P recipitation (m m d -1 )
30
o
30
100 35
d -1 )
Relative hum idity (% )
30
2
80
S olar radiation (M J M
25
60 20
40 15
10
d
20
b 5 e
0 0
0 365 730 1095 1460 1825 2190 2555 0 365 730 1095 1460 1825 2190 2555
Time (day) Time (day)
10 20
f
d -1 )
c
Wind speed (m s -1 )
8
2
15
Net radiation (M J m
6
10
4
2 5
0 0
0 365 730 1095 1460 1825 2190 2555 0 365 730 1095 1460 1825 2190 2555
Time (day) Time (day)
Fig. 2 Input parameters used in the calculation of ETo by different ETo estimation methods
(a) precipitation [mm day-1]; (b) relative humidity [%]; (c) wind speed [m s-1];
(d) average temperature [oC]; (e) solar radiation [MJ m-2 day-1]; and, (f) net solar
radiation [MJ m-2 day-1], respectively.
The 7 year-daily weather data were used to validate the performances of the commonly used ETo
estimation methods.
Comparison of monthly ETo values specifically for the Thornthwaite, Hargreaves, Hamon, Rs-based
and Rn-based equations and are presented in Fig. 3.
8 O. ALKAEED, C. FLORES, K. JINNO and A. TSUTSUMI
200 200
a d
FAO56 PM ETo (mm mon-1)
200 200
Thornthwaite ETo(mm mon-1)
175 b 175 e
200 200
Hargreaves ETo (mm mon-1)
175 c 175 f
Rn ETo (mm mon-1)
150 150
125 125
100 100
75 75
50 50
25 25
0 0
0 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 0 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96
Time (mon) Time (mon)
Fig. 3 Estimated ETo derived from different methods: (a) FAO56-PM (b) Thornthwaite
(c) Hargreaves (d) Hamon (e) Rs-based method (f) Rn-based method. Unit is [mm mon-1].
Although the trends of the estimated ETo are in proximity among the applied methods, it is surprising
that none of the methods show the same results. Seasonal variations in the ETo estimation reflect the
differences in the variables applied in each method. Figure 4 shows the comparisons of annual ETo
estimations.
In the present calculations, the annual sum of ETo estimations based on the solar radiation as input
variable showed the highest value among the tested methods having the values ranged from 957 mm yr-1
in 1999 1042 mm yr-1 in 2000 in Rs-based method, while 1084 mm yr-1 in 1999 1143 mm yr-1 in 2001
for Rn-based method, respectively. The ETo estimations by the Hamon method has the lowest values
ranged from 831 mm yr-1 in 1996 895 mm yr-1 in 1998 whereas the Thorntwaite method is very close
with the FAO56-PM having the values ranged from 845 mm yr-1 in 1996 916 mm yr-1 in 1998,
respectively. The low ETo values obtained by the Hamon and Thornthwaite methods having 831 mm yr-1
and 845 mm yr-1 both in 1996 were found to be close with the ETo estimations reported by Kondo (1992)
et al. and Tsutsumi et al. (2004) of 860 mm in 1992 and 831 mm in 1996 for Fukuoka area.
Comparison of Several Reference Evapotranspiration Methods 9
1400
1200
Total ETo (mm yr )
-1
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 20002
Time (year)
Comparisons of the Thornthwaite, Hargreaves, Hamon, and the Rs- and Rn- based methods were all
correlated with FAO56-PM having r2 values, which can be calculated using Pearsons correlation
(STATSOFT, Statistica, 1999 Edition), of 0.80, 0.69, 0.48, 0.71 and 0.45 as shown in Fig. 5, respectively.
Results of the ETo estimations by the Hargreaves and Rs-based methods, which use the solar radiation,
and the Thornthwaite method by temperature as input variable, were found to be significantly correlated
with the ETo estimation by the FAO56-PM. This fact implies that these input variables are significant for
obtaining the proximate values in the ETo estimations. When considering the availability and reliability of
the input data, the use of these methods are suggested as practical methods for estimating ETo, if the
standard FAO56-PM equation can not be used due to the complexity of its input parameters.
n n n n
2
n x y x y
( ) ( )
i =1
2 i i i i
SEE = 1 n y 2
n
y i =1 i =1
{n(n 2)} i =1 i i =1 i 2
(10)
n
n xi xi
2
n
i =1 i =1
where
xi ; ETo estimated using the FAO56-PM (mm mon-1)
yi ; ETo estimated using other equations (mm mon-1)
10 O. ALKAEED, C. FLORES, K. JINNO and A. TSUTSUMI
Table 2 Standard Error of Estimates (SEE) in mm mon-1 of ET, Average Ratio of ET method / ETo FAO56-PM of the
commonly used methods for estimating ET covering the years 1996-2002.
240 240
a d
Thornthwaite ET o (mm mon -1)
210 210
180 y = -66.162+1.8244*X
240 240
b e
Hargreaves ET o (mm mon -1)
210 210
y =31.985+ 0.8188*X
120 120
90 90
60 60
30 30
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
240
210 c
Hamon ETo (mm mon -1)
180 y = -20.889+1.2133*X
150 r 2 = 0.48
120
90
60
30
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
FAO 56 PM ET o (m m m on -1)
Fig. 5 Regression analysis for the ETo estimates of (a) Thornthwaite () Hargreaves (c) Hamon
(d) Rs-based method (e) Rn-based method with FAO56-PM for evaluation years of
1996-2002 at Maebaru, Fukuoka, Japan. Unit in (mm mon-1) and n = 84.
4. Conclusions
The 7-year meteorological data derived from Maebaru AMeDAS station and Fukuoka local
meteorological station located in Fukuoka Japan was applied as input parameters for comparing different
methods to estimate ETo under existing climatic conditions in Fukuoka, Japan. The major drawback is
that the real ETo is unknown however, numerous studies have been performed wherein the FAO56 PM
method have shown to be the best method for estimating ETo in which the calculated ETo values
correspond to lysimeters and other precise devices where real ETo can best obtained. The performances of
the Thorthwaite, Hargreaves, Hamon, Rs-based and Rn-based equations for monthly ETo estimates and are
significantly correlated with the ETo estimates in FAO56-PM method although the Thorthwaite method
was found to have highly significant estimates. Among the methods used, only the Thorthwaite method
requires temperature as the only input parameter whereas other methods used radiation input to estimate
the ETo. These approaches require only few parameter inputs thus making it more dynamic for the
Comparison of Several Reference Evapotranspiration Methods 13
application in the area when the accuracy in weather measurement is less expected as compared with
complex data input required by FAO56-PM approach. Thus, these methods could be used as a potential
method to estimate ETo.
In conclusion, it can be emphasized that the use of the FAO56-PM as a standard method remains the
most desirable method for estimating ETo if accuracy of data collection is considered to be the main
consideration. But in many cases especially in areas where accurate data collection is difficult, the
application Hargreaves and Rs-based equation could be utilized for accurate and consistent estimates of
daily ETo relative to the FAO56-PM method especially in humid climate like in Japan is to be considered.
Alternatively, reliable ETo estimates derived from Thornthwaite method can be used to calculate the ETo
when temperature is the only input parameter available. However, the differences in the ETo estimates
using these methods have provided a significant range of uncertainty. It is therefore important to
compare and validate these methods based on the precise evaluation considering the land coverage and
topographical condition.
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